


As the Moon

by gsaiyn



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Future Fic, Spoilers, rayla and claudia buy a farm house and live in the country like the lesbians they are, soft lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 01:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16358438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gsaiyn/pseuds/gsaiyn
Summary: Four years have passed since the two human princes found the egg of the dragon prince. Ezran has taken to the throne with Callum at his side. Soren has taken back to his duties in the crownsguard. Claudia and Rayla have taken a liking to one another and move out to the country side where things have finally calmed down. The two of them have their issues to work through but they're there for each other through thick and thin.





	As the Moon

The war between Xadia and the human kingdoms had been raging for many years until two brothers, an elf, and their glow toad had come together on an adventure to return the egg to the dragon queen. The brothers were the sons of a great king and a kind father. Attempt after attempt, the moonshadow elves had finally struck down the king. Or that’s what they believed. The right hand man and best friend of the king tried to intervene in this situation mere hours before the assassination. Against the king’s will, his friend, a master of dark magic, transferred the king’s soul to his bird. 

The sister of the late queen and general of the royal army was quick to learn of her missing nephews. The king’s best friend implored her to take the throne for the time being until the princes could be found, but she refused. Her number one priority was to look for them, leaving the throne empty until the crown prince returned. She had to return to her post at the fort while the dark mage trapped her second in command in a dungeon to allow his own children to take lead of the search for the princes. 

His intent, obviously, was for the greater evil. He asked of his son to kill the princes if they were to find them. He then told his daughter that if something were to happen to her beloved brother and the egg, the egg was to come first, even if it meant death came for her brother early. Neither of them were happy with these revelations but, as they promised their father, kept it a secret from each other. So, off the two went, hunting the brothers and this elf down. They had followed them up a dangerous mountain. There, they had found all three of them, the glow toad, and a new moon elf with her giant bird-like mount. And a baby dragon. 

Both of them, knowing that the newly born dragon prince meant their promises to their father mean nothing now, made new promises to the kids. They swore to help them return the dragon prince to his mother, where he could be nurtured to his full potential. A dangerous task, having to cross the border formed by burning lava, having to weave through Xadia where the now four humans were promised a painful death if they were ever seen, assuming they wouldn’t be harmed on sight by the dragon queen herself. They had a long journey ahead of them. Many problems had arose through the years; more crownsguard being sent to find them, losing the dragon prince, elves capturing them, unspeakable terrors, monsters that lurked in the night. Name anything and they had probably gone through it at least once in those four years. 

After those four years, life seemed to be slowly going back to normal for this team of friends. Ezran was 14 years old now, a little more prepared for the throne than he was when he was 10. Callum, now 18, promised his little brother to be his new right hand man now that Lord Vired had been revoked of his title and thrown into prison for attempted murder of the king and both of the princes. King Harrow had been returned to his former self but his soul had to be transferred to a new body after his original had been cremated in a rushed burial ceremony. This had certainly sped up the process of Ezran’s coronation a bit. As for Soren and Claudia? Soren returned to his position in the crown guard, never having been tried with treason to the kingdom since he ignored his father’s orders to kill the princes. Claudia, no longer practicing dark magic, moved out to the country soon after they had returned to Katolis. With her was an all too friendly moon elf, Rayla. The two promised to visit often when they had the chance. 

So, off the two went, traveling through the country, together, and not running away from death at every turn. With the return of the dragon prince, the war had died down and eventually ended, Ezran making peace with the elven leaders of Xadia. The war had officially come to a close with the peace treaty, but it had symbolically ended when the dragon queen stopped the lava flow, allowing safe passage between the two countries. That would always be an unforgettable day for everyone; the dragon queen releasing a roar as powerful as Thunder’s once was and slamming her powerful claws into the earth, shaking the land for miles and miles. The river of lava stopped flowing from end to end, cooling as quickly as the wind created by her mighty wings would allow it. The land’s scar could finally heal.

The heat was still settling between the humans and elves, so their journey still had to be planned carefully. They could only spend a few nights in towns at a time, usually staying with those who supported them through their years. Eventually, the two had settled down near the border, staying within the humans’ side of the now cooled river of lava. There were a few small and quaint houses put up for sale at the border that were either abandoned during the war or once belonged to soldiers staying out on the front lines. The one they chose was once used for a farmer’s family, messy fields with withered or burnt plant life were scattered around the small building. Rayla did want to bring Claudia into Xadia to show her just how beautiful and magical it could be without having to run for their lives. But, she reluctantly settled for this part of the country while elves warmed up to humans again, even if it would take them years. 

Many days and nights were spent repairing and cleaning up their new home; replacing rotted wood, cracked stone, broken windows, replowing and deweeding some of the fields for use. Among a field of trees, Claudia had discovered a barn and the two of them spent several week cleaning and repairing that as well. It was a long process to repair the buildings and it left both of them physically and mentally exhausted every single night. 

Some days after sleepless nights, Claudia found herself muttering spells under her breath even though they would never work without the components necessary and sometimes it would even upset Claudia to do it without realizing. It reminded her of her dad, a man who told her to kill her own brother if it meant saving some stupid egg. Rayla would sit with Claudia for hours while she wept over it, reassuring her that everything was okay and everything going forward would be better. Some of those reassurances were Rayla promising many times that she didn’t hate Claudia for practicing dark magic in the past. 

There were also nights where Rayla would wake up screaming and shaking violently from a nightmare. It was usually the same one every time; the five of them were still on their journey when they were approached by Viren himself, his skin deteriorating from the use of his dark magic. He had tossed her three golden coins without a word to anyone else. The others looked at her as she stared in horror at Runaan’s silent cries for help behind the sheen of the gold and at her parents sitting and weeping in utter defeat, knowing their cries would do nothing for them. She would then watch as the same fate quickly befell her friends, one after the other, until Viren was upon her and she was paralyzed with fear. She always woke up when he formed an evil grin across his face as he pulled one more coin from his pouch and uttered those horrible incantations but right before she could be sucked into the coin, her screams being of protest and fear. 

Claudia would be quick to wake to her screams and hold her in her arms until she stopped shaking. It wouldn’t take Rayla long to appear calm, she still never wanted to be seen as vulnerable. It was a fear of being walked over, a fear of being left behind, shamed, and forgotten if she didn’t appear as the strong assassin she once was. That mindset, though, slowly diminished around Claudia. She was the one person Rayla could be sensitive around. She felt safe in her arms and hearing her voice in a hushed whisper giving her reassurance pushed all fears out of her mind.

Months were passing outside their small and cozy house. The two fixed up the house just in time for the fall and the first level of the barn had been repaired to a usable state. The small section of the land was plowed back over and they planted their own small garden to sustain themselves out in the country. Living with them now on this small farm were two cows, sisters named Gina and Melody, a sphynx cat named Minnie- who always wore the cutest little sweaters knitted for her by Claudia- and four month old sheltie puppy they named Bait. Now that they could relax without spending all hours of the day working, their nightmares became less frequent. They no longer woke up screaming in the middle of the night or broke down crying while making breakfast. Now they woke up to a flabby cat kneading at their chests for food and made breakfast with a puppy running around barking and playing. 

The leaves were changing colors around them, falling and making beautiful curtains against the sun’s setting rays. The days were becoming shorter and their nights becoming colder. It was the kind of weather Claudia enjoyed, being able to bundle up in many layers and drinking hot chocolate. Rayla was pretty fond of it, too; it meant she got to cuddle with her girlfriend for hours on end without a care in the world- that is, until a certain puppy barked up a storm asking to be played with. One particularly warm fall evening, Claudia watched from inside as Rayla ran around and jumped through the trees as Bait chased her and crying when he couldn’t get her up in the trees. She watched Rayla jump into a patch of tall grass with the puppy and started to get a little worried when she didn’t reappear for a some time. 

Claudia put on a warm overcoat and a pair of boots before heading out to look for Rayla. She knew the general areas of where she was and when she finally found her, Rayla was laying in the grass with her eyes closed, a faint smile resting on her lips. She cracked one open to look up at Claudia and her smile grew to a big, cheesy grin. Claudia sat down next to her and asked, “What are you doing down here?” There was a slight chuckle to her words. 

Rayla shrugged. “I got comfortable,” she turned her head to spy at Bait trying to herd the cows through the grass, “and Bait got bored of me hiding in the trees.” Her voice was gentle, soft, as if she didn’t want to disturb the earth beneath her. 

Claudia nodded and lied down next to Rayla and the two lie there in a comfortable silence, watching the sky change from pinks and oranges to deep purples. Away from the kingdoms, the night sky was full of stars they had never paid attention to before. When the moon peeked over the trees, Rayla reached over for Claudia’s hand and whispered, “You’re as beautiful as the moon, my love.” Her palms were horribly sweaty with racked nerves. She would never get used to being so expressive and vulnerable around Claudia. 

Claudia understood this about Rayla, and knew how much of a struggle it would be for her to say such things. She’s travelled across the lands with this girl, the girl she calls the love of her life. She turns her head to look at Rayla and says back to her, with just as gentle of a whisper, “And you, Rayla, you are my moon.” She squeezed Rayla’s hand in her own. Rayla could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and was glad that Claudia couldn’t see all that well under the light of the moon. She felt so childish thinking like that when she was lying in the grass with the girl she knew she would spend the rest of her life with. 

Without another word, Rayla moved closer to her girlfriend and rested her head against her chest. Claudia moved her arm to wrap around Rayla’s waist and gently ran her hand up and down her side. The warmth Claudia radiated felt like heaven to Rayla as the temperature quickly fell as the moon rose. Almost inaudibly, Rayla whispered, “I love you.” 

Claudia responded with, “I love you, too,” and pressed a soft kiss against Rayla’s lips. Rayla’s lips felt like ice against her own. “You’re freezing,” she chuckled, “let’s get you inside.” They shared one more quick kiss before sitting up. They almost didn’t want to leave this spot; it felt like time was passing slowly and the world was theirs. In the distance, among the rustingling leaves, they heard a familiar bell. The cows had been grazing in the fields but this bell grew closer and closer to them and without a warning, Bait leapt upon Rayla, knocking her back down the ground with his small and mighty paws. 

Rayla cried out for help from this vicious beast pinning her down and licking all over her face. Claudia ignored her cries as she stood up and laughed at the sight. If there was ever a moment that assured Claudia was in love with the elf, it was this one.


End file.
